Editors Note: This is NOT a paid political advertisement or endorsed by anyone other than the writer / author of this blog. On Monday, August 19th, Democratic Presidential candidate Julián Castro unveiled a platform focused on advancing the welfare of animals around the globe, both domestic and wildlife. It would raise standards for factory farms […]

They said it couldn’t happen. They said wild salmon would never breach penned-up fish farms. They were wrong. And that’s a big problem. On June 11, 2019, members from the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ / Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, including Tribal Parks Guardians and members of the Clayoquot Sound Indigenous Salmon Alliance, boarded and inspected open net pen […] […]

President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency has escalated tensions all across the southern border. The large majority of residents who live near the Mexican border don’t want the Wall built. Their reasons include fear of the government’s use of eminent domain, the high probability of flooding from a built wall, concern of escalating tensions […] […]

Just when you thought your food choices were clear and safe. UK firm The John Innes Centre has applied for permission to plant experimental genetically modified wheat and broccoli in open fields at their farm outside Norwich, in the United Kingdom. The research company hopes to begin two small-scale field trials in April. In 2017, […]

When you consider our nation’s health, the quality of our food, its decreasing nutritional value and the increased degradation of our farmland, it’s not a pretty picture — and the challenges related to these issues keep growing. By 2050 the world’s population will likely reach close to 9 billion people. To feed everyone, we’ll need […]

Homeowners know that the exterior paint job on their home will only last so long – about ten years or so. Then it’s time to do it all again!

But Dutch chemical and coatings company AkzoNobel has been working on the problem and they’ve come up with an innovative solution. One of the company’s product developers, Dr. Peter Greenwood, figured out that by adding colloidal silica to its paints, it would last up to 16 year – 25 percent longer than the standard product.

AkzoNobel;s new paint products live up to its Planet Possible approach to sustainability. They feature the benefits of being self-cleaning, longer-lasting and more durable to a range of environmental conditions (such as extreme temperature and sunlight exposure). The paints were used at several test sites as part of a rigorous testing process.

“In this test station the panels get exposed to a lot of UV lights as well as different weather conditions. Sometimes it’s very cold, sometimes it’s quite hot. So it’s a really tough test. So if the panels can survive here, they can survive anywhere,” Jenny Lundegård, Innovation Manager at AkzoNobel, explains in the video. “We are all very proud of being a part of this. It’s really something extra to see your product out on the shelves and know that you made a sustainable difference.”

This product development is just one of several recent sustainability innovations from this Dutch company. It is developing an urban resilience guide for cities as part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Risk Management Solutions and Veolia. The goal of this project is to provide critical tools to help cities around the world become more resilient to the shocks and stresses that are a growing part of the 21st century. The announcement was made in late September at the Clinton Global InitiativeAnnual Meeting in New York City.

“If a paint can last longer, its longevity is one of the key parameters for the environmental impact of a paint,” said Greenwood.

This durable and long-lasting paint is an innovation that will surely be welcomed by homeowners everywhere.